Cross: Eastern hat-trick for Tricker

Ross Tricker made it four wins in a row as he sprinted to victory in the Eastern League on Saturday.

But the 33-year-old Ipswich man had to work hard to secure the win, suffering a fall on the hurdles and then having to battle with second-placed Matt Webber (Hackney GT).

Tricker, Webber and Iceni Velo’s Tim Guy were the early leaders of the race, forming a small group which worked well to stretch out a gap at the head of the field.

Tricker took control later on until his pedals came unclipped going over the hurdles. He was soon back on his bike and was lucky to be able to change his damaged bike at the pits soon after.

As the race entered the final two laps, it came down to a straight shoot out between Webber and Tricker with Guy dropping away to the rear.

And it was Tricker who had the legs for the victory, crossing the line three seconds ahead of his opponent.

Ross said: “I’m really pleased with that, four in a row now and the wins just seem to keep coming! I was a bit worried this week because I had a tooth out and then it got infected and I had to take antibiotics so I wasn’t feeling the best.

“Matt and I had a good sprint to the finish, he usually comes good on the last few laps and I was worried he would get the hammer down. I slowed down a bit on the last lap because I knew I’ have to save my legs for a sprint. I always know I’m in for a battle when he’s on the starting line.

“I’m leading the league at the moment so to try and win this is the target but the championships are in my hometown of Ipswich soon so I want to enter that.”

British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.